Health & Fitness

Summer sports are a wonderful outlet for Chaldean kids to learn the value of teamwork, build friendships and get fresh air and exercise. And while Chaldean parents want their kids to have a good time and succeed at sports, they should also teach them the importance of playing sports safely.

Kids' growing bodies are simply more susceptible to injury than adults'. Chaldean health professionals estimate that one out of every thirteen Chaldean children under the age of fifteen will suffer a sports injury this summer. Yet, a lot of them are preventable by following five rules of sports safety. If Chaldean boys and Chaldean girls want to win at sports in the long run, they must take steps to protect their bodies.

Do you believe it's simple to lose weight? If you listen to the weight loss industry, you've been told over and over how easy it is--just take this pill, follow that diet or buy this piece of equipment and everything will melt away in a flash. In fact, it’s even harder for Chaldeans to lose weight. Our cultural foods and family habits have not caught up to the way we now live.

The idea behind weight loss is simple-burn more calories than you eat. This can be accomplished by replacing a couple of sodas with water and adding 20 minutes of walking each day. This sounds simple because it is, but why can't we seem to do it?

Chaldeans are known for their savvy skills in business and negotiations. Given communication is a fundamental skill in business and negotiations; you might be tempted to logically conclude Chaldeans must be great communicators.

Let’s just say Chaldeans communicate differently than most in the West are accustomed to in business and negotiations. Commonly Chaldeans in communications will be more outspoken, quick, transparent, bold, candid, and gesticulate freely in the discussion.

This can be intimidating, frustrating, and difficult for non-Chaldeans who are taught a more linear, quiet, subtle, and masked way of sharing ones thoughts and feelings.

A few weeks ago, I was asked to join two close friends for lunch, John, a Chaldean and Russell, a non-Chaldean (Names have been changed to protect the innocent). Throughout the lunch, I couldn't help but feel there was some sort of communication breakdown. John would cut Russell off even though he was still talking. John kept offering unwanted advice and opinions, even though Russell was not asking for help. It became quite frustrating just 15 minutes into the conversation. After 30 minutes, Russell stopped sharing and nodded away to everything John said.

Recently a friend of mine joined me at my cousins wedding. Besides the number of guests, decorations, and non-stop dancing do you know what surprised my friend? That we ate dinner at 10 pm in the evening

It goes without saying that Chaldeans on average get anywhere from 5-7 hours of sleep a night. Long hours in the family business and events that span into the wee hours leave little time for bed time. Some are impressed that Chaldeans can function at such an intense level with so little rest. It may be impressive, but that doesn’t make it good for us.

A June 2010 Newsweek article entitled “The Surprising Toll of Sleep Deprivation”, discusses a research study that only allowed participants 6 hours of sleep per night for a two week period. The study found that even though the subjects felt some sleepiness and “they thought they were functioning normally, formal testing showed that their cognitive abilities and reaction times progressively declined over the two weeks. By the end of the two week test, they were as impaired as subjects who had been continuously awake for 48 hours”.

When you look at these results, it’s very clear that many Chaldeans would be performing even better if they had more sleep.

Chaldeans are reminded that staying healthy during the summer months requires more than just eating the right foods. Dr. Saad Manni offers this partial list of things Chaldeans can do that will help keep them cool and healthy during the hot summer months.

Florida, USA - If you ask the Clearwater BP gas station owner Karim Mansour, he will say they had a bone to pick with Cody and they won. Florida’s health department inspector says the dog will no longer be able to join his owner to work.

“Successful Chaldean business owners are known to fight for their employees. It is perhaps one of the biggest reasons as to why they are successful. You treat your workers great, they are loyal and work hard to make the business a success,” says Angela Yousif, a member of Clearwater areas Chamber of Commerce.

Mansour, received a warning from the Florida Department of Health on Thursday, informing him that Cody would have to go or all of the store's food - mostly bottled soda, candy and other snacks - would be declared unfit for consumption.

Michigan, USA – “If you’ve ever gone a month without spending any real quality time with your spouse, you know how negatively it can affect your marriage. All relationships need to be nurtured, and none more so than our relationship with our spouse,” says Eddie Kuza from Farmington Hills, Michigan.

Kuza attended the new Couples Club at Mother of God Chaldean Catholic church with his wife. The Couples Club organizes fun outings and events for engaged and married Chaldean couples. “The Club is fun. The group organizes some great activities, like dinner and a play, or a small trip up North, or great tickets to a basketball game.”

Kuza says the goal of the Couples Club is to nurture strong marital relationships and create opportunities for Chaldeans to have fun. Successful Chaldean marriages may be best seen as a triangle, with God at the top and each partner at the lower corners. The closer we draw to God, the closer we’ll be to each other. “Marriage is not a ‘done deal’ at the altar; it’s a continuous, daily ‘I do.’ Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads, which sew people together through the years.”

The Chaldean Couples Club event brochure offered these wonderful tips to perk up a relationship.

California, USA – Chaldean immigrant receives special attention from the U.S. Center for Disease control (CDC) for his blood. “It is like the movie Arachnophobia where a spider is brought to the U.S., spreads, and creates havoc,” says Dr. Jason Edwin III, Director of Entomology at the CDC. “We were able to find an Iraqi who has something in his blood that is immune to the spider’s venom and is assisting in treating the infectious bite site of the spider.”

David Abbas of Tel’Kepe, Iraq seems to be immune to the venom of the infamous “Camel Spider” which is identified as the cause of a state-wide outbreak in Nevada. Abbas was given $100,000 after a sample of his blood proved to contain the necessary antibodies. The CDC is now asking Chaldeans in California, Nevada, Arizona, and Michigan to be tested. Those with the rare blood immunity will be offered a $100,000 in order for the CDC to have enough vaccine to stop the epidemic from spreading outside of Nevada.

“I was scared and worried,” says Ashley Michael. “My baby would not stop crying. It was late at night and I was so tired. He was getting on my nerves. Thank God we lived with my Mother-in-Law. She helped keep me calm and made me feel that everything would be fine. She was so kind and helpful.”

All babies cry. And at about two weeks of age, it is common for babies to develop a fussy period in the evening that can last for as long as two hours. Fortunately for Mrs. Michael it is a Chaldean tradition for a new mom to stay with her mother or mother-in-law after giving birth for a few months.

The reassurance, extra set of hands, and experienced advice can make all the difference. So can a number of these helpful tips given to www.CHALDEAN.org by experienced Chaldean moms on how to soothe a fussy baby. Try some of the following techniques, or perhaps a combination of them, to soothe your baby.

Chaldean expectant mothers know that a healthy diet is the best way to get the vitamins and minerals you need. Chaldean food is one of the healthiest of cultural cookery, but even if you eat healthfully every day, some Chaldean moms may fall short on key nutrients. If you're pregnant or hoping to conceive, prenatal vitamins can help fill any gaps.

In today’s article I cover why you need them, when to start taking them or how they help. I hope Chaldean moms-to-be find the information useful and helpful. If you have suggestions for future articles on healthy living e-mail me at info@chaldean.org care of Brenda Hermiz.

California, USA – “Chaldeans who voted for him should be ashamed of themselves. When will people learn that what goes around comes around? Like the Nazis who supported eugenics and the killing of the useless and unwanted, so too goes America with this President,” says Ashley Bashi.

Barack Obamaa has plans to reward the allies that helped him topple Hillary Clinton and seize the presidency by making total unrestricted abortion in the United States his number one priority as president. Nonetheless, some Chaldeans think abortion is a religious issue or only a disagreement to overlook with the controlling Democrat party.

“It is sad that some in the Chaldean community think abortion is a religious issue. Our entire society is based on morals and values. If we don’t value the innocent, the old, unproductive, weak, or poor of our society, how much longer before we begin to make decisions to eliminate them,” says Dr. Hiba Hannou, a leading Chaldean medical researcher in reproductive science. “How much longer before we say those that are not smart or unproductive must also be killed.”

California, USA – The double standard in the Chaldean community always was a point of contention. Why is it okay for men to smoke, but not women? Some argue the double standard was required by Chaldean men living in a Muslim dominated society where smoking was seen as a male’s passage to adulthood and encouraged.

The society pressures seem to be a strong force as American society continues to grow in disgust with smokers. Chaldean men living in western society show a significant decrease in smoking compared to their Middle Eastern counterparts. However, the increase in Chaldean women smokers versus their counterparts is staggering, but understandable, given the freedoms and consumer coaching aimed at women who have come a long way to light-up.

Stories abound in the Chaldean community of fathers and mothers disgusted at the sight of young American teenage girls smoking at school. Some of the stories go so fat as to say that the parents refused to allow their daughters to enroll in the school, opting instead to home school.

So whatever happened to those teen girls who defiantly puffed away as gawking Chaldean parents drove by worried as to what their child was being exposed to. A new study says those insecure girls have grown up to be fat and are now costing society in hefty healthcare costs.

Florida, USA – “The family is the nucleus of society. When it is weakened or destroyed, we all pay,” says Jenny Jabril, a Chaldean nurse in Florida’s Orange County. “We all pay when families break-down or fail. We the people, deal with the dysfunction. Our taxes go up to care for the abandoned or misguided children, our education system spins out of control, we pay more to prevent crimes, protect our families, or hospitalize these people.”

Jabril is frustrated over the increased number of substance abuse. In Florida law, citizens can be held against their will under the Marchman Act. Individuals whose substance abuse makes them a threat to themselves or others can be held at a mental-health facility for up to five days while physicians evaluate them.

Jerry Kassab, president and chief executive officer of Lakeside Alternatives, Orange County's receiving center, said his facility receives about 20 patients a day who are committed under the law. There are three scenarios in which someone can be committed under the Marchman Act.

In Orange County, Kassab said, most patients are taken to Lakeside by law enforcement officers. "The most common instance is when someone's out on the street who's acting up, or the police might be called by a store owner because someone's acting up or acting weird," Kassab said. "You also get instances when one family member calls the police because someone in their family is out of control."

You are My Sunshine, My only Sunshine'….Like any good mother, when Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling.

They found out that the new baby was going be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sang to his sister in mommy's tummy. He was building a bond of love with his little sister before he even met her.

The pregnancy progressed normally for Karen. In time, the labor pains came. Soon it was every five minutes, every three, every minute. But serious complications arose during delivery and Karen found herself in hours of labor.

Would a C-section be required? Would the mother survive? Would the baby live? The entire family and medical staff were on pins and needles. Finally, after a long and exhausting struggle, Michael's little sister was born. But she was in very serious condition.

Michigan, USA – The Church of Transfiguration in Southfield, formerly St. Michaels hosts the Southfield 40 Days for Life kick-off campaign. The 40Days for life team invites the public to join the prayer effort as the prayer group gathers at 6:45 p.m. today, Tuesday, September 24th to help put an end to abortion.

From September 24 - November 2, our community will be one of more than 170 cities in 45 states joining together for the largest and longest coordinated pro-life mobilization in history -- the 40 Days for Life campaign.

40 Days for Life is a focused pro-life effort that consists of:

40 days of prayer and fasting, 40 days of peaceful vigil, and 40 days of community outreach. Chaldeans4Life help lead the effort in the Chaldean community. Group leaders say the are praying that, with God's help, their groundbreaking effort will mark the beginning of the end of abortion in our city -- and throughout America.

Chaldeans interested in becoming part of the growing movement are encouraged to take a stand for life.